Featured Artists

Chris Shouse

“Growing up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, I have an attachment to nature and our role in it. I look towards natural objects when searching searching for flow and beauty. Even during my time deployed as a soldier in the United States Army, I found myself more marveled than afraid. I have recently braved the waters of abstract art, marrying influences of my past experiences with my current interests and passions. I believe each work to be a composition viewed through a lens.”

Chris is donating a portion of his sales to the benefit veterans through ‘Rock the Vet’.

Susan Erikson Hawkins

Susan is an artist native to southern California who lives and works in Long Beach. Her figurative sculptures in polychrome plaster, bronze, terracotta, and steel evoke a sense of turbulent motion, inner conflict and mass. She began her formal training as a painter at the age of eight and then turned to sculpture. The artist uses the unique properties of the material to create an integration between the structural and aesthetic development of the sculptures.She has exhibited throughout southern California.

Theresa Paden

Theresa is an award-winning artist who is known for unique paintings that feature vivid colors and expressive brush work. She is an animal lover and avid horse woman who has a passion for painting wildlife and people of the West. She is dedicated to helping animals and donates a portion of her sales to horse and animal rescue organizations.

Mixed into the bright and bold pigments is a feeling of being in the physical and spiritual presence of her subjects.

Suzie Ariel

Suzie Ariel grew up in Reading, Massachusetts, a small town north of Boston. She studied Fine Art at Harvard University, is a self-taught painter, and currently has a studio on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California. From Suzie: "I like to remind people of who they are and what they love. The art is the essence of the person, the nature, the scene. Art is like a window to God; it's a transcendence of the material by use of the material. If life is a journey or a quest to gain wisdom, to find beauty, to perfect the soul, or to learn how to love, then art would be ideally a reflection of both the perfection of accomplishment, as well as the trials along the way." She also has an art charity at www.Arts4Animals.org

Annie Clavel

I am a French artist. I grew up in Paris where I studied mathematics and computer science. I gained a Master's degree in both subjects and taught them at schools throughout France and Tunisia.

In 1985 I pursued my second passion: Art. I undertook painting workshops at l'Atelier Bleu in Paris where I was introduced to abstract expressionism.

I traveled and lived in Tunisia, Germany and France. Many of my earlier works portray an expression of realism seen in the day to day life of people, nature and culture of each country.

I moved from France to California in 2006.

Once in the US, I significantly expanded my artistic activity. I created Les Jolis Trésors Art Gallery in Long Beach and managed it from 2009 to 2014. My work has won awards in juried shows in Southern California and is in private collections in France, USA, Germany, Tunisia, Japan and United Kingdom.

Michael Ezzell

Michael was born in Harlingen, Texas in 1950. His early years were spent abroad. He had contrasting influences of southern Texas and European cultures. At 12 he moved Corona del Mar, where he was introduced to the California surf scene and the art movement.

After studying ceramics in college under the direction of professor William Payne, Michael began his travels. He started in Denmark on the island of Bornholm at Yacht Pottery. Renowned for their hand crafted stoneware and porcelain, this Danish pottery was established in the 17th century, and is now a museum. Michael continued to travel extensively, adding to his knowledge of art history. He later accepted a teaching position at the David Greene Pottery in Exeter, Devon, England. On his return to California he began work with a select group of emerging artists.

Michael opened his studio in Laguna Beach, where he is still working today.

Mark & Julia Glocke

Mark Glocke (-2017) and Julie Glocke They used plate glass and UV adhesive to make our trees. Plate glass is the same kind of glass that goes into windows, table tops, etc. and in most cases, will have a green tint to the edge. The ultra-violet adhesive is not only clear but stronger than the glass. It is so strong many dentists use a similar adhesive to keep filling and crowns in place.

For over twenty-five years, Julie & Mark collaborated creating cold glass sculptures. They used clear optical glass and add all color ourselves. In their sculptures the color moves and changes and sometimes even disappears. It is hard not to smile when viewing their glass sculptures...view and smile as well!

Sarvi Housseini

Jewelry artist that lives and works in Laguna Beach, CA. Specializing in lost wax casting, fabrication, and enameling. Working with various metals and techniques she has developed a unique line of work that embodies nature, in a modern whimsical twist.

Rhonda Kap

Rhonda Kap received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from San Francisco Art Institute, Majoring in metal sculpture. She also studied with Judaic artists in Israel and California. Although Rhonda works in other sculptural forms, Judaica has a special place in her heart. Her work as a Judaic artist carries great value, because her art becomes a part of people’s lives as they use the ceremonial objects to carry out the sacred rituals. Rhonda Kap has over thirty years of experience with these materials creating beautiful organic forms.

Debbie Lewis

Debbie Lewis is a self-taught watercolor artist. She loves bold, bright colors and lots of contrast. For the last ten years, she has been painting iconic images of Long Beach, California, as well as other colorful buildings, landscapes, and floral images that catch her eye. Debbie spent a year in Sydney, Australia (August 2017 - July 2018), where there was an endless stream of buildings and scenes that sparked her interest and creativity, leading to a new collection of iconic Sydney paintings as well.Recently returned back home to Long Beach, she's ready to find new scenes to paint and is available for commissions.

Warren Long (1953 - 2016)

“I’ve never lived out of sight of the ocean, “ wrote Santa Monica painter Warren Long, “and that’s where I derive most of my inspiration.” The immensely popular artist, lifelong surfer and runner died suddenly on January 2 of 2016.

Long, who worked in a studio on the Malibu Beach near Big Rock, founded Santa Monica’s Hamilton Galleries in 1996 with his late wife, actress Leigh Hamilton. The successful Ocean Avenue gallery, known for its lively, well-attended openings, showcased Long’s representational paintings, instantly recognizable for their vibrant, sun-washed colors and inspired, fanciful themes, resonant with California beach life.

A self-described “humorous anarchist,” Warren Long was born in 1953 in Albuquerque, New Mexico and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, the son of an activist Oakland lawyer and a mother who was an illustrator. After graduating from San Francisco State University with a B.S. in ecological systematic biology, he’d originally planned to be a doctor. Extended time spent visiting a hospitalized quadriplegic brother, however, convinced him otherwise. “I couldn’t see myself being so exact, doling out medicine,” he said later. “I’m too casual for that.”

Widely exhibited, Long’s work enjoyed a celebrity following. Among his better-known collectors were Brooke Adams and Tony Shalhoub, Leslie and Robert Zemeckis, Mel Gibson, and Elizabeth Taylor. On any given day, you could take a walk along Malibu Beach at Big Rock, in Southern California and see Warren Long painting on the deck of his beach studio. Paint paraphernalia, broken glass and pottery, tiles, wrought iron and some fascinating found objects such as animal skeletal fragments clutter his deck. These objects later appear in his paintings, or become incorporated into his innovative sculptural framing . His funky use of assemblage is rightly inspired from the earth sensual and organic.

Long is a representative painter, however his individual style defies pigeonholing. The artist imagination masterfully appropriates and personalizes themes and tableaus from an eclectic smattering of art history, classical myths and scientific influences. American outsider and folk art Latin art, as well as Renaissance and Impressionism, are all obvious influences. In a singular effort Longs paintings incorporate historical contexts with personal fantasy and the beach-life ethic unique to Southern California. He expresses his startlingly wide breadth of influences through subject matter and materials but also with a distinct use of bold sun-lit color.“

Less fashionable, and more about accessibility and introspection, Long’s work reminds the viewer of the value of traditional aesthetic technique. Humor and fantasy, which is abundant in his work, can also be provocative and therefore extend their appeal to a broader audience. Warren Long is a humorous anarchist rebelling against traditional artistic boundaries, labels, or intellectual dogma. He demonstrated a satirical appreciation for the sensual and the spiritual. Perhaps he continues to delight viewers and collectors nationwide, because looking into a Warren Long painting can feel like looking into a mirror of the, comedy, poignancy and celebrations of our own lives.

Kenneth Brayden Matthews

Kenneth Brayden Matthews went to photography school at the Herberger School of fine arts at ASU subsequently graduating magna cum laude with a B.F.A. degree in 2004. During that period he got his first big break while in college, because one of the makeup artists he worked on some test shoots with also worked for one of the biggest most prestigious salons in the Phoenix Scottsdale area. They were looking for someone who has good photoshop skills along with photography skills to help them create an editorial entry for the biggest hair awards event in the country, the North American Hair Awards, or better known as just NAHA. He rented huge soft boxes, and lighting from the local camera store, and was in business. The exciting thing about this first commercial job is that the images were picked out of thousands of entries to make the final 3 in the category it was in. Unfortunately they didn’t win, but it was still a win for KBM because it planted the seed of a long career ahead for him. The next big break came when world Renown photographer Rick Rusing hired KBM to help him composite some of the big ad campaigns he had going for some major car companies. KBM got a firsthand look at a large scale photography business, and how to create high level photographs. Rick went beyond just showing him the ropes of the technical world of photography, and helped open him up to the deeper world of building yourself into a true power in any Endeavour you take on. It was a mentorship like no other, one of the most memorable things he had him do was he built his first vision board, and to this day he still builds vision boards to help him forecast the direction he wants to take his work, and even does it with his bigger clients. He continues his photography and has moved into creative collages of famous people and is receiving much acclaim.

Olympio

Olympio was born into a large family of six children in Lome, Togo, West Africa. As far as he can remember, he has always been creating. He began his work by using building scraps to make sculptures. By the time he was in high school, he started to experiment with mixed media and collage.

Olympio’s work has been shown in many places in Togo and neighboring countries. A few places include the city art center in Lome and the largest hotel in the country, Hotel Sarakawa. He then went on to show and sell his work in Paris, France. Olympio moved to the US in 2003 and has continued to paint and show his work in many galleries.

Painting, for Olympio, is following a feeling. It is discovering the internal balance of a piece and recognizing beauty when it is unveiled, a happy accident. He was always drawn back to the abstraction of life. “Art is a spirit,” is a statement he lives by. He starts with the blank canvas, a splash of blue, red, or whatever color speaks to him and goes from there. He uses oil, acrylic, brushes, his hands—anything he is inspired by. He scratches the canvas and uses paint straight from the tube. For him, there is no hidden story or elusive meaning behind each painting. It’s just a piece: it is everything and nothing. It is as simple as a heartbeat, as complex as a hurricane.

Ronen Pollak

Ronen Pollak’s artistry is an expression of emotion ignited by love, people’s stories, music and all forms of life. Ronen believes that art is not to be choreographed, but rather, it is a freestyle dance, a blending of emotions, senses and intellect. He wants his art to communicate something to the observer that makes sense to them, that moves them, be it a story or a mood. A native of Israel, resident of the LA area, and a world traveler, Ronen developed his Abstract Expressionism style from his appreciation of diverse cultures, people, genres of music and literature, and landscapes… everything that can be experienced can breathe inspiration into creativity of all forms. Acrylics on canvas and wood are Ronen’s preferred mediums along with a list of diverse creations with Pen and Ink, Oil and sculpture.

His artistry is an expression of emotion ignited by love, people’s stories, music and all forms of life. He wants his art to communicate something to the observer that moves them, be a story or a mood, and to evoke emotions and feelings. A native of Israel, resident of the LA area, and a world traveler, Ronen co mingles various styles; Abstract Expressionism, Cubism amongst other contemporary styles. His chosen subjects come from his appreciation of diverse cultures, people, and genres of music, literature, and nature….

Everything that can be experienced can breathe inspiration into creativity of all forms. Acrylics on canvas and wood are Ronen’s preferred mediums from a list of diverse creations with Pen and Ink, Oil and Sculpture. Ronen’s work has been shown in galleries throughout, including Beverly Hills, Laguna Beach, Los Angeles, Santiago Chile, London, Japan and Israel.

Gay Summer Rick

Sparsely populated though replete with objects and evidence of the built environment, Gay Summer Rick creates iconic urban and coastal land and cityscape paintings that evoke emotion and a sense of place. She creates scenes that are at once dreamlike and familiar. You may have been there; you are there. Revealing an unexpected beauty in commonplace elements within the urban landscape, Gay Summer’s style is a melding of impressionism and color-field painting describing the quiet vibration of life where cities meet the sea.

Applying oil paint to canvas using only palette knives, Gay Summer Rick creates images through a series of interacting, melded layers. The paint is treated architectonically; it is engineered, built into layers, carved, scraped, accumulated, and almost sculpted, but never removed, never discarded. In part to avoid material waste and the use of toxic solvents for reasons of environmentalism, she finds this almost mnemonic accrual of paint a reflection of her experiences in the places she depicts.

Growing up in New York surrounded by artists, Gay Summer Rick began her arts education early in life. She went on to formally study art and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in New York at the School of Art and Design, Alfred University, where she drew, painted and sculpted images on clay forms and vessels. After receiving a Masters degree in Business Administration, she continued her art training in Los Angeles in painting, which became the primary focus of her art practice. A resident of Southern California for over 25 years, the artist maintains her studio in Malibu.

Gay Summer Rick regularly exhibits in California and Hawaii, and has shown in New York, Europe, and Japan. Her paintings have been featured in solo gallery exhibitions and museum group exhibitions including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Rental & Sales Gallery; and in international and national group exhibitions where she has received numerous awards and honors. She is a member of Oil Painters of America, California Art Club, Malibu Art Association, Malibu Artists Unite, and is listed by the Malibu Cultural Arts Commission. Her paintings are held in public and private collections around the world.

W.B.S.

W.B.S. is a musician, author, and painter born in Nashville, TN (1969). He has lived in California since August 2017, and spent 6 years living and working in Europe previous to that. He began painting in his flat in Europe in late 2015 to fill a creative and personal void, and has been compelled to continue to do so ever since. He recently completed his autobiographical book, “Meet me at Majestic”, and is currently discussing publishing opportunities. He has no desire to become a public figure, only to live and create in his own way.

W.B.S. primarily works with latex paint and epoxy on canvas or wood panel, but has explored other mediums for different projects. His works are abstract and numbered so the viewer can appreciate them without any pre-determined notions.

Theodore Svenningsen

Contemporary work by the noted Los Angeles-based painter Theodore Svenningsen, featuring in a tight, realistic style paintings from his noted "railroad series" works featuring train cars and tracks, often set in desolate and lonely winter conditions. The artist received a Master of Fine Arts from Otis College of Art and Design. His works have been widely exhibited in New York and California, and are in numerous corporate and public collections. He created murals for UCLA's Department of Architecture and for Los Angeles City College. The artist's informative website includes a number of other "railroad" works as well as his later text-based conceptual paintings. This painting is in excellent, unusually fresh condition, considering that it is forty years old.

Karin Swildens

Making drawings was her first love but Karin Swildens started carving wood sculptures some 30 years ago, soon followed by the discovery of clay. Creating ceramic, high-fired and stoneware sculptures is her way of existing. She expresses herself and lives our common experiences through sculptures of women, horses and fantasy-mythology as well as carved eggs and architectural doors. Her art-deco pieces are a remnant of her european background and her erotic sculptures are full of humor and tenderness. Within the pages of this website you will also find a number of bronzes.

“I feel the urge of a sculpture as a bubble in my belly, similar to the first stirring of a new life within.”

Swildens draws inspiration from symbols and mythology in her pursuit to create aesthetic objects that both delight and provoke the senses. Each sculpture expresses an impulse, and once that impulse reaches its viewer, she gladly leaves any interpretations to the eye of the beholder.

Karin Swildens was born in Holland, raised in Morocco where she learned French, and studied at "Les Arts Décoratifs" in Paris. She started professionally as a painter and illustrator.

In 1980, shortly after coming to the United States she began to create wood sculptures as a way to see and touch the "other side" of her paintings. By 1982 she focused her energy on clay and has loved it with a passion ever since. Karin's current ceramic works feature "Horses" and "Women" and the two combined, "Doors" as experiences of life, and much more that you will discover on these pages. Karin Swildens' artwork is shown in many art galleries, in The USA and abroad.

Stories, experiences, imagination and mythology are the basis of her inspirations. She uses archetypal and personal symbols to convey a message of respect for "Joy and Humor in Life".

Marcus A. Thesing

Marcus A. Thesing was born and raised in Southern California, and first became interested in art at a young age. His father, being a sculptor as a young man, always having figurative sculptures around as he grew up, influenced him and motivated him toward sculpture and three dimensional art.

While attending Orange Coast College he obtained an AA degree and prepared to transfer to a university, he explored almost every art class they had to offer, from figurative sculpture and drawing to computer graphics and photo, 3-D color and design, painting and bronze casting.

He was absorbing techniques and finding focus when he met John Barber, a master glassblower living in Laguna Beach. John invited him to visit his glass studio to witness molten glass being made into art. Upon that visit, John said “step up and take a gather”, Marcus was overwhelmed, the glass is so fluid but yet so strong, it was surreal, and instantly he was hooked. Finally after four years of exploring all different mediums, he knew that he found the one “glass”. That moment, at John’s studio, he had a flashback to when he was a young boy, his parents would take him to the Sawdust Festival in Laguna Beach to watch the glassblowers, John was one of those artists.

John Barber, seeing his enthusiasm, then offered him a three year apprenticeship to explore the medium and assist him in making works of art. After three years of engaging the glass, Marcus felt that he truly yearned for more development of his skills before designing his own work, so he stayed to work with John for six more years.

Those years were a very valuable time for Marcus to hone his skills and learn new techniques, develop designs and sell his own work. Marcus’s love for nature very much influenced his artwork, and through developing his own line of work, nature played a big part in color patterns, and in shapes of the glass, together forming a very organic look.

After nine years of working for the master glassblower, John Barber, it was time to move on. He could learn no more from John and had a strong desire for his own studio. For Marcus Thesing, in 2003 the dream came true, building his own glassblowing studio. Now he has more time to focus on creating new designs and ways to express himself with this molten medium which he loves glass.

Alisha Volotzky (1944 - 2017)

Glass + Light = Magic

Since coming to this country he had worked in his own glass studio producing furniture and architectural commissions for public and privet, homes and collections in Israel, Europe, Canada, and the USA. The unique technique he developed of, not just etched glass, but deep carving and painting on glass is prefect for fabricating custom tabletops from thick glass, doors, windows, room dividers and skylights. He made beautiful and strong leaded glass, stained glass and beveled glass, windows, door and room dividers.